'Ghhh… My head…'
Day's heavy eyes opened slowly, one by one, just to be met with the sight of nothing but cold, hard ground. His vision was bobbing up and down incessantly, and subsequently swirling.
Day could feel the middle of his stomach planted firmly on something broad and wide. Each time his body moved, he felt himself beginning to slip, but a strong force reoriented him before he could fall. The person who was carrying him had brown, fabric-like armor, and large boots of the same color.
Even with his vision to the ground, it was impossible to miss the bath of luminous, fractured light that was pouring into the shadowy depths of the alleyway he and his escort were treading through.
It seemed that while he was asleep, the sun had come up to shine. Now, the tenebrous, stone buildings stood out even more than before. The almost palpable darkness that they exhibited was even more piercing than before in comparison to the radiant light.
Oddly enough, however, the temperature felt exactly the same. Day had spent nearly an hour and a half sitting still basking unwillingly in the perpetual icy chill, so he could tell immediately.
Pain and soreness washed over him like a torrent of rain and battered every inch of his worn out body. He could taste blood between his lips, but that wasn't even a miniscule percentage of the dried up and wet blood covering his body.
The biggest component of all of his suffering, however, was… embarrassment.
He came to a quick conclusion that the one carrying him was none other than his one and only companion, Caster. He had Day slung over his shoulder, and was moving forward ceaselessly with the passed out boy as his luggage.
He wasn't angry or anything, since Caster holding him meant that he had come back for him– which he was grateful for, but being carried through Dream Realm while fast asleep, it was quite shameful.
Day let out a quiet sound to signal to Caster that he was awake.
"Ummmm…."
Which Caster responded to as soon as it came out with surprise.
"Up so soon?"
Moments after Caster spoke, Day's vision began to flip, and he was promptly planted onto his feet. Caster, after placing Day down, wiped some sweat from his brow and took a deep, drawn out huff of air.
The two teenage boys stared into each other's eyes for a few moments, and then spoke at the same time:
"What am I, a princess?"
"Thank you, Day."
Caster's face contorted into a look of pure, genuine confusion, and then he involuntarily let out a, "Huh?"
Noticing his mistake, Day quickly put his hand up and waved it around frantically.
"Sorry, I was just joking! Um…"
His voice trailed off, and his hand began to slow down, before then coming to a complete stop dramatically.
He stayed looking down at his hand for a few moments, let out a soft, awkward laugh, and then tilted his head up slightly to get Caster into his sights.
"Actually, uh, why are you thanking me?"
Caster raised an eyebrow, and stared at Day for a few moments. After realizing that Day wasn't going to say anything else, he frowned deeply, like he was disappointed in Day.
"Don't try to act humble. I won't let you glide past the topic."
Day went silent.
'Well, there goes my attempt to even out my tension. '
Day huffed in discontent.
"Yeah, sure, you're welcome. Oh, uh, my bad. That puff wasn't meant to be rude, just so you know."
Caster nodded understandingly, and then leaned against the nearest wall and blew a strand of his hair out of his eyes.
"On a different note, I've been walking for a while now. I know we are nearing the hill. The Sun above that crimson spire turned on quite suddenly. I don't know what this means, but I'm going to assume that it's good for us. Light is light, and it will certainly make it much easier for us to travel through the dark city."
Day chuckled mischievously, and then whispered under his breath:
"Light in the dark city…"
Caster stopped for a moment, and then, with bewilderment in his voice, he said:
"What does that even mean? Are you trying to make a joke?"
Day froze, frowned deeply, clicked his tongue, and then turned the other way with one smooth motion.
"You wouldn't understand my genius."
Day took a few steps forward, and then covered his eyes with his hand as he wearily gazed up at the spire– and subsequently the Sun. Caster was right. The source of the light really was the red tower they had been so conscious of.
Which actually came as less of a surprise to Day than it should have.
Most people would think: How could something terrifying to even gaze at be the source of something benign as sunlight? But Day already experienced first hand a Sun that was far more sinister.
'Yeesh, what is it with the Spell and making things that should be good terrifying? It feels like a reoccurring theme...'
Day clicked his tongue and then looked back over at Caster. Before speaking, he blinked a few times to rid himself of the lingering fear that was creeping up his spine– and the aftereffect of the sunlight's glare on his naked eyes.
"Alright then! I'll just agree with your hope that the light is going to be good for us… What could go wrong? Nothing that hasn't already, I assume. "
Caster stayed silent, like he didn't find Day amusing at all, but when Day took a closer look, he realized that the Legacy boy was actually studying him quite intensely. He looked him up and down for a few seconds, and then took a sharp, questioning breath in.
"You think you will be fine for the journey? You seem pretty messed up… everywhere. "
Day chuckled.
"Glad you noticed! Don't worry, I'll be fine. The only thing I'm worried about is the blood attracting something unwanted."
"Hopefully, that won't be a problem. We just need to keep moving until we reach the entrance to the Castle, but that was the plan anyway, wasn't it?"
'Good thing he isn't pushing the issue further.'
"Yeah."
The ensuing conversation was short, messy, and somewhat useless. They barked out random thoughts for a few minutes, and then Caster eventually led the conversation in a more linear direction that eventually led into the decision to depart, just as Day knew it would. Part of the reason that it went on so long, however, was because Day was spacing out. His thoughts were racing. He wanted to ask Caster about the hourglass charm, and he also wanted nothing more at the moment than to check out his new weapon, because it opened many new possibilities for him– but they had other things to worry about at the moment.
Still though, it was nice. Now, he didn't need to worry about conjuring a weapon. It was ironic that Day had decided to spend weeks trying to perfect the creation of a spear, just for him to end up getting an Awakened weapon not even a day after he arrived at the Dream Realm, but there was a multitude of boons that came with a weapon graced by the Spell. The durability, the time it takes to summon, the enchantments…
Basically everything, actually, not that there was anything wrong with that.
'What am I, some sort of prodigy? To think that I killed not one, but two Awakened creatures, one as a mundane, and one as a Sleeper! And I haven't even been in the Dream Realm for a day! Look at me go… '
Day scoffed. Who was he kidding? The first time was due to pure luck, and this time… Well, he had definitely put in some work, but he wasn't particularly proud of it. If Caster wasn't graced with a speedy Aspect Ability, Day would have failed to save his companion. Not only that, but the creature's build was definitely part of the reason it fell to Day's hands.
Day knew better, and he was almost certain that he got lucky enough to face off against one of the creatures who had the short end of the stick in its own dastardly lands. It was a known fact that some creatures were more dangerous than others even when they were of the same rank and class, and this was a perfect example of why that was a generalizable fact.
So with his luck in mind, Day wasn't satisfied. He knew it would be impossible to do the absolute most every time– even if he hated it, but even so, he had the damned beast in his grasp. If he was just a little stronger, a little faster, a little smarter, he could have finished it all before they even reached Caster's location.
Unfortunately, he was none of that. And he didn't even want to imagine what would have happened if he didn't gain that extraordinary boost from his, 'Remnants of Kindness.'
'I'm being so pessimistic. You know what, I'll just leave it at this: I have a lot of work to do! There we go, that's done."
"..."
A few minutes later, they were finally ready to actually depart. Caster made sure Day was fine, and then asked Day to lead as before. Day said yes, but he was sure to warn Caster that he wouldn't be able to move as fast as before. Caster assured Day that it was fine. His reasoning was that it would make more sense for Caster to stay behind Day so he could walk at his pace, which Day agreed with. If they were going to stick together, Caster would have to make some sacrifices... Which he seemed willing to do, luckily.
With that, they departed… or at least they tried to.
Not even a few steps after they began, Day faltered. He fell to one knee and placed his intact hand against the wall near him, and then he coughed. Splatters of blood tainted the floor with dark red while Day gasped for air.
"Day?" Caster said, worry seeping into his tone of feigned calmness.
That fight had really done a number on him, as it turned out. Day, after gasping for breath a little more and finally grasping it after a few moments, slowly lifted himself up with a groan of pain and turned his head to gaze at Caster.
He coughed one more time, and then chuckled.
"Turns out that after all, being crushed under the weight of a full grown Awakened Monster is not a recipe for health and prosperity. Who would've thought?"
Caster stared at him for a second, sighed, lifted his hand up to massage the bridge of his nose, and then said:
"I didn't even know that happened… Day, are you ever going to take anything seriously? Can you even take anything seriously?"
Day grinned widely, showing off his once pearly whites that were tainted with blood.
"Mmm- Depends on the day of the week. Oh, I will say though: I've always taken final exams very seriously…"
Caster sighed, and then put his hands over his eyes completely as he shook his head.
"You know what-- if you drop dead because of your injuries, it's on you for not speaking out."
Day thought deeply about it, smirked, and then conjured the perfect response:
"Duly noted."